The Will to Live
by eclarefanxxx
Summary: Even in the worst situation, one who has the will to live will be the one to survive.


It's Now or Never at Degrassi Prom Night.

Little did the students of Degrassi Community School know that a prom they were looking forward to all year long would change their lives forever. The seniors knew this night would change their lives, but they thought it was just about transitioning from high school to bigger and better things. They had yet to know that prom night at Degrassi would be about much more than just positive changes; it was about making it out alive.

Holly J Sinclair spun around in her prom dress in front of the mirror. She was getting ready for prom at Fiona's condo, along with Anya MacPherson. Holly J smiled to herself, thinking. She had been through hell this year, dealing with dialysis, potential kidney failure, and finding out she was adopted. Years ago, Holly J was a spoiled mean girl who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted, but at the end of her high school career, she changed for the better. Degrassi truly changed her life, and she would be forever grateful for the positive changes it brought upon her. Tonight was the night to seal the deal; they were_ free_. Holly J would be going off to Yale, Anya would be joining the army, and Fiona would stay behind for one more semester before going to college. Graduation had been earlier that day, so Holly J gave her speech and now was the night to celebrate. They were going to have a fantastic time tonight, dancing, laughing, and creating new memories that would last a lifetime.

Suddenly, Anya and Fiona entered the room, both looking gorgeous with curled hair, beautiful, expensive-looking dresses and shoes, and carefully applied makeup.

Anya gasped. "Holly J, you look beautiful!"

"Thank you, Anya. You do, too." Holly J grinned, scanning Anya's outfit. Anya really did look amazing tonight, with a magenta pink dress, heels, and curly auburn hair.

Fiona grinned. "Well, ladies, what are we waiting for? The limo's right out front!"

All three girls cheered and went to the main lobby of the condo. Sure enough, the limo Fiona had rented for the three of them waited outside. The girls giggled with excitement, piling into the white stretch limo.

The driver turned around. "Where to, ladies?"

Fiona leaned forward. "The Royal York Hotel, please,"

The driver nodded and proceeded to drive to the hotel where prom was being held.

Fiona pressed a button on the ceiling of the limo and stuck her head out the roof with Holly J. They cheered with excitement, thrilled to be heading to prom.

Meanwhile...

Eli Goldsworthy fastoned the last of the buttons on his white button down shirt. He hadn't originally planned on going to prom, but his parents insisted that he needed to get out of the house and have some fun. So, he decided to meet up with Adam there and try to forget about everything for just one night. Clare was with Jake now, and he was beginning to except that. The girl he loved was also the girl he had to let go, and he finally understood that. It hurt more than anything to let Clare Edwards go, but he just wanted her to be happy, and if being with Jake Martin made her happy, then so be it. It killed him to see her kiss a guy that wasn't him, to watch her go on fun dates with Jake like she did with him, but it was just something he had to accept.

Imogen Moreno flashed back into his mind. Eli was glad he got the chance to apologize to Imogen over coffee, but he couldn't help but feel a little guilty still. Even if Imogen had taken his pills from him, she didn't know that would effect him so badly. She thought that it would help enhance his creativity for the play; she was just trying to help. He had made out with her in his room one night, 'rehearsing for the play', but really, he was just using Imogen in his fantasy of getting back with Clare. He knew, now, that that was not going to happen, so he cleaned his act up. The week before this very night, he had been trying to apologize to all the people he had hurt after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Fiona had accepted his apology, and Jake eventually did after Eli's efforts paid off to help improve Jake's relationship with Clare.

"Hey, kiddo, are you almost ready?" His dad, Bullfrog, called from outside his door.

"Yeah, I'm coming." Eli called, taking one last glance in the mirror. He wore a long sleeved white button down shirt, black slacks, and plain black shoes. His brown hair was touseled and wavy, just the way he liked it. He turned away from the mirror and met Bullfrog at his doorway.

"You look great, kid. I hope you have fun tonight." Bullfrog grinned, leading Eli to his car.

Eventually, Eli was walking into the entrance of the Royal York Hotel. The music was loud and blasting, balloons and other decorations everywhere surrounding the dance floor. Multi-color lights flashed off the walls, coloring the dance floor. Kids danced wildly on the dance floor, and the DJ was in full gear, getting ready to mix the next song.

Eli finally found Adam and let the night begin, sipping punch from a styrofoam cup. Little did he know, simply sipping punch with Adam might just be a more crucial moment of the night than he thought.

Clare...

Clare was ecstatic. She was going to prom with her boyfriend, Jake Martin, tonight. He was going to arrive at her house to take her to prom any minute now, and she was doing a last minute primping session. Alli wasn't going to the prom tonight because she was still upset over her break up with Dave, so Clare decided to just go with Jake and let Alli have some time to heal from her heartbreak. She was thrilled to be able to finally have a night of fun. She had a strange feeling in the bottom of her heart all the time though, something she just couldn't explain. She loved Jake, at least she thought she did, but her heart kept leading her back to one name- Eli. No matter how much she liked Jake, she'd never be able to stop loving Eli. Eli had changed her life; he made her break out of her shell. Before Eli, Clare had been a shy, quiet Christian girl who was basically afraid of her own shadow. Even after dating K.C., Clare had never truly felt like she was_ somebody_. Eli made her believe she was somebody, but that was Grade 10 Clare. Grade 11 Clare was different; she was with Jake now, and that was just the way things were going to be.

"Clare? Jake's here!" Her mother called from downstairs in a happy tone. "And so is Glen!"

Clare groaned to herself. She wished her mother wasn't dating her boyfriend's father; it was just so _weird. _"Okay, Mom! I'll be down in a minute!" she called, giving her hair one last fluff before adding one more coat of pink lip gloss. Clare looked beautiful in a knee length dark blue dress, sparkly black heels, and a thick red headband in her naturally curly, short cinnamon colored hair.

She grabbed her purse and ran downstairs. There was Jake, smiling cutely in a sleek black tuxedo and black shoes, his hair jelled and holding a corsage in his left hand. Clare smiled and walked over to him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Ready for a night you'll never forget?" Jake whispered in her ear, making her blush. No, they were not going to have sex because of her purity vow, but they were going to have a great night of dancing, laughing, and cuddling in the hotel. A lot of the students had rented hotel rooms, and Simpson had said it was alright as long as they were responsible and stayed in separate hotel rooms. Of course, Clare would sneak into Jake's room, cuddle, and watch movies with him all night. Not that Mr. Simpson needed to know that.

She and Jake bid Helen and Glen goodbyes and climbed into Jake's red truck. They rode off to prom, and Clare bit her lip. This definitely would be a night to remember, but not so much in the fairytale way, except she didn't exactly know that at the time.

And so our night begins...

8:00 PM, Saturday, June 15, 2011. Prom Night. Royal York Hotel ball room.

Katie Matlin wove her way through the sea of dancing students, trying to find her date, Drew Torres. Drew was, as she expected, by the punch bowl, drinking a cup.

He panicked, for he had been looking for her, too. "Katie! I think I saw Bianca, and some guy was with her! He's going to hurt me, or someone else!"

Katie tossed her honey blond curls over her shoulder and grabbed Drew by the shoulders. "Okay, calm down. Listen, I'm going to get Simpson and let him know what's going on. You go find Adam, and meet me back at this spot, okay?"

Drew was shaking violently, ducking under the table every few seconds in fear and earning weirded out looks from students. "O-okay," he jumped up and ran in his tuxedo to find his brother.

Katie ran to tell Simpson, but not before she ran into Bianca DeSousa. Drew ran up behind them.

Bianca smiled sinisterly. "Hey, guys!"

Drew looked horrified. Bianca did look rather menacing in a blood red cocktail dress, chandelier style earrings, and a rather odd updo of brunette curls. Her brown eyes flickered with what looked like remorse.

Katie swallowed hard, her blue eyes staring at Bianca. "What's going on?" she asked sternly.

Bianca didn't answer. Instead, she just turned away from the two of them and walked off without a word.

Drew's hands were shaking. Katie had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong, very very wrong. She quickly walked out the double doors leading to the lobby to find Mr. Simpson.

Clare and Jake arrived to the hotel, walking arm and arm into the main ball room. Clare gasped. It was huge, decorated to the brim with colorful balloons, a disco ball, lights everywhere, and party streamers. She spotted Eli over by the punch bowl with Adam in deep conversation. Her heart fluttered, which she hated. She was with_ Jake _now; why was she still having feelings for Eli? Deep in her heart, Clare knew the answer to that question: Eli changed her life.

"Clare?" Jake questioned, his brow furrowing in concern.

"I'm fine, sorry. Just... thinking." Clare smiled, taking his hand in hers and leading him to a group of friends in the corner.

Avril Lavigne's "I Love You" came on at that moment, and Jake took Clare by the waist and they danced in the middle of the dance floor. Hannah Belmont and Wesley Betenkamp bounced next to Jake and Clare and began to dance. Hannah rested her head on Wesley's shoulder, and Clare did the same to Jake.

Out of the corner of her eye, Clare saw Eli looking at her wistfully. She smiled at him, and he returned it. Part of her was glad that Eli was ready to let her go, but a smaller part of her wanted nothing more than to be with him. Clare didn't want to take her eyes off of him, and Jake must have noticed it, because he pulled back.

"Are you sure you're okay, Clare?" He kissed her forehead.

Clare sighed, eyes growing watery. She was so conflicted; she had no idea what she wanted. The guy who brought her three months of happiness was standing about fifteen feet away from her. She could not reach a decision no matter what she did. Jake looked at her questioningly, but then he noticed exactly who she was staring at with the longing in her eyes.

"You still love him, don't you?" Jake asked sadly, looking into Clare's light blue eyes.

She opened her mouth to respond, but no sound came out.

"Clare, I can't date you when you're in love with someone else."

She opened her mouth in disbelief. "You're _breaking up _with me at_ prom_?" her voice was thick with tears.

The song lilted in the background, fading on a final note. Jake averted his eyes, but then gave a stiff nod and walked away.

Clare's eyes watered, and she stood there in the middle of the dance floor, with absolutely no clue what to do anymore.

Two hours later, 10:00 PM, hotel lobby.

Holly J, Fiona, and Anya took their heels off of their sore feet, stumbling in a giggly heap to the hotel couches in the lobby. The entire first floor of the hotel was rented out for the night for the prom, so no one was in the room except them.

Fiona lifted her head up from Anya's lap and grinned at Holly J. "I guess the surgery paid off, huh? Looks like you're having a great time!"

Holly J laughed, rubbing her beyond sore feet. "Yeah, yeah I am." she smiled gratefully at her friend that basically saved her life by paying her birth mom for the kidney donation.

Anya rested her head on Holly J's shoulder. "You guys? Thanks for standing by me. Doing cocaine was so stupid of me, and I'm sorry I put you guys through that."

Holly J patted Anya's head lightly. "It's me who should be thanking _you_, Anya."

Anya stirred. "What?"

"I was so mean to you all those years ago, Anya. I bossed you around, made you feel unimportant, and acted like a bitch to you. I went out with your ex-boyfriend, and you also stood by me through my stage kidney failure." Holly J said, resting her head on top of Anya's.

"Awww, group hug!" Fiona laughed, pulling her best friends into a big embrace. "Guys, thanks for standing by me, too. Holly J, you helped me through my alcoholism and rehab. I owe you forever for that. And Anya, you never judged me when you found out I was an ex-addict."

The girls murmured their thanks to each other and hugged, feeling a lightness in their hearts they hadn't felt in a long, long time. Little did they know, it wasn't going to last for much longer.

Drew hid in fear by a lone table in the ball room next to the dance floor. Girls and guys danced in expensive dresses and tuxedos, creating a sort of blur. The music blared constantly, causing Drew's anxiety to increase. The disco ball and lights were reflecting off every wall, causing a very disoriented Drew to become even more panicked. What if Vince showed up here and tried to hurt Katie? Or Adam? Or himself? What made it even worse was that Adam was nowhere to be seen. He even asked Eli, and the younger boy just told him that he turned around for one second to grab another cup of punch, and Adam just disappeared.

"Drew!" Katie yelled, running up to him. "I can't find Simpson_ anywhere_!"

"What about Bianca?" He said in a throaty voice, holding Katie in a vice grip.

She smoothed his short brown hair down and kissed his head reassuringly. "I haven't seen her either, but we are going to get through this, I promise. If we see anything suspicious, we'll call the police. For now, just try and relax, but don't let your guard down completely, okay?"

Drew lifted his angst-filled eyes to Katie's. "I can't relax! I saw a hooded figure in here just like on movie night!"

Katie grabbed his hand. "Drew, that was just Julian that night. You could be wrong, you know. Maybe you only saw Bianca and her date?"

He began crying, his anxiety gripping him around the edges of his throat. "K-Katie, no! You're wrong! We have to find Adam, please!" He grasped her cream colored, sparkly dress, burying his head in her chest. "Please, we have to find Simpson! This isn't funny anymore, dammit!"

Katie hugged him closely. "Alright, baby, we'll find Simpson. Calm down, okay? Everything will be alright. I won't let anything happen to you, sweetie."

He hugged her back. She was right, in a way. Nothing would happen to Drew, but would anyone else be so lucky?

Clare sat in a lobby chair, thinking hard. The only other people in the spacious room was Holly J Sinclair, Fiona Coyne, and Anya MacPherson, asleep on the couch. Jake had broken up with her. Eli would probably never take her back now, but regardless, she knew she had to try. Just then, Eli walked out of the double doors that led to the connected ballroom and plopped down on the chair next to her.

"I saw you and Jake fighting in there. Everything okay?" He asked softly, looking into her eyes, which were bloodshot thanks to her crying.

"Everything's fine, Eli. Thank you." Her voice was ice cold, and she didn't want to hurt him, but she also didn't know how she even could be kind to him. She didn't deserve his kindness; she had broken his heart.

"Well, Edwards, it doesn't look like everything's fine." He joked, smirking a little half smile.

She took off her corsage and turned it over in her hands. The flowers were slightly wilted, looking exactly like she felt at the moment. She crossed her legs under herself, sitting on her side, and turning to face Eli. He waited for her to speak.

"Look, Jake and I broke up, okay? Happy?" she looked down at the corsage, which rested peacefully in her hands.

Eli reached up and tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. "Now, why would I be happy about that?"

She shrugged. "Basically, all you've done except for last week was try and break Jake and I up, so I didn't expect you to be exactly unhappy about this."

He sighed heavily. "Clare, I already told you in the sweatlodge that I'm bipolar. I wasn't thinking straight when I did those things, okay? I've been going to therapy, and I know now that what I did was wrong. I'm sorry."

She shifted her weight again, knocking the corsage to the floor. Oh, the hell with it, she smashed it under her foot, crushing the petals into the carpet.

Eli laughed. "Hey, what did the poor little flower do to you?"

She smiled, picking it up and throwing it in the trash can. "It doesn't mean anything to me anymore. I don't need a corsage just to know someone loves me."

The song "Animal" by Neon Trees came blaring through the double doors, and Eli smiled at Clare. This was their song for awhile back when they dated. It came on after a night laying on Morty's hood under the stars. He had held her hand and sang the lyrics to her, telling her to take a bite of his heart. She had laughed and kissed him repeatedly. Now, they were sitting close to each other on separate love seats pushed together, so close, yet so far away.

Eli smirked. She blushed furiously, wonderful memories pushing their way back into her mind. "You know, the last time we were at a dance together, you were almost stabbed. I could say this is going better, how about you?" she joked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'd say so," he whispered husikly, getting up and walking over to her loveseat.

" 'Take a bite of my heart tonight' ", Eli murmured the last words of the song before reaching forward, tucking an auburn curl behind her ear, and leaning forward.

Clare's heart was hammering in her chest, sending her mind into overdrive. He was going to kiss her! After all these months, he was finally going to kiss her! She didn't have to pretend anymore. Eli was the one for her.

He gently placed his full pink lips over hers in a sweet kiss. Clare wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. His soft white shirt rubbed gently against her skin, and she pushed him onto his back. They continued to kiss on the loveseat, all the months they had lost, all the emotions they had suppressed, pouring into the kisses.

He pulled back and smiled. "I love you," and then he kissed her again.

Tonight was perfect, Clare decided. Except... was it?

The students of Degrassi danced with fervor on the dance floor. Music was blasting at full volume, and a few tired couples had wandered up to their hotel rooms after king and queen were announced at the prom. Jess Martello and her boyfriend, Max Waters, had been awarded king and queen.

Eli and Clare had fallen asleep on the green loveseat, with Clare splayed across his chest. His arm was protectively wrapped around her waist, and his nose pressed gently into the back of her neck.

Most of the students were filing out of the ball room, climbing the stairs and going into their rooms for the night. Prom was almost over, and the DJ was playing a couple more songs at a much lower volume for couples who wanted to stay and slow dance.

Drew and Katie ran at top speed after finding Simpson, trying to get everyone up to their hotel rooms safely. After hearing there was a gun man in the hotel, the students screamed and panicked. The screaming woke Eli and Clare up, making them sit up, disoriented. Clare sat up, grasping Eli's shirt in a death grip, scared to death from the terrified screaming of over 400 students.

Eli kissed her cheek softly, trying to calm her down. "Come on, let's go see what the fuss is." Suddenly, a gun shot rang out throughout the hotel. Eli and Clare stiffened in fear before bolting up the stairs two at a time. Eli dug out his phone and called 911, directing the police to the hotel.

At the top of the stairs, there was a small room, with people inside. They were surrounding a small body, which had blood pouring from its chest. Eli and Clare gasped. Surrounding the body was Katie and Drew, and other students lingered in the background, crying hysterically, waiting for the cops to arrive.

Eli ran to the body, realizing exactly who it was: Adam Torres. Adam was laying on the floor, fighting to breathe, after being brutally shot in the chest, not far from his heart. Eli grabbed Adam's arm, and Adam grasped onto Eli's forearm tightly. Katie got on her knees, crying hysterically, holding Adam's other arm. Clare knelt down between Eli and Katie, covering her mouth with both hands in shock. She began to cry, just like everyone else in the room.

Drew knelt on the floor in front of Adam's head, desperately pressing with all his might against the wound with a rag to try and stop the bleeding. A few minutes later, after Clare had said a prayer, the police and paramedics arrived.

Eli whipped his head around. "GUYS!" He yelled, and the paramedics rushed into the room, loading Adam onto a stretcher and placing an oxygen mask over his face. After they strapped him down and got the bleeding to stop, they carried him outside of the hotel to the ambulance.

The students of Degrassi prayed together for Adam Torres, the guy everyone liked. Even if he was biologically female, he was more of a man than most guys ever hoped to be. Jess Martello cried in Max's shoulder, removing her crown and throwing it on the ground. Being Prom Queen wasn't as important to her anymore.

Clare sobbed into Eli's chest, and Eli rested his head on top of hers. He tried to remain strong, but he just couldn't. Instead, he broke down, and was enveloped in the arms of Fiona, Anya, Holly J, Sadie, Dave, Mo, Sav, and many other students. The students hung onto each other, silently praying for Adam to survive. Even Jess, who barely knew Eli or Clare at all, was wrapping her arms around the both of them.

Everyone knew Eli and Clare were Adam's best friends, and they all felt terrible for the two.

Mr. Simpson ran into the room, seeing about 20 of his students, all different ages, huddled in a tearful group hug. "Guys! I'm so sorry. I would've come sooner, but my hotel room door wouldn't open! Someone must have known that I'm principal and tried to keep me out of the action." Then he noticed the blood on the floor. "Is...is everyone okay?"

Fiona lifted her tear streaked face off Holly J's shoulder. "No," she rasped. "Adam Torres was shot. They just took him to the hospital."

Simpson's face paled. "Kids, call your parents immediately to come get you. If you took a limo here, please take it and go home. Anyone who wants to go to the hospital to make sure Adam is okay and needs a ride is welcome to ride with me."

The kids all nodded, giving one last squeeze in their giant group hug, before heading off to the front lobby and making calls.

Hannah stood in the lobby, trying not to cry. She didn't know Adam very well, but she did not want him to die. She undid her updo, letting her long, orange-red hair fall down her back. Wesley approached her cautiously, trying to see if she needed anything. His uncle was coming to pick them up in a few minutes.

"Wes," Hannah croaked out, mascara running down her face.

He nodded solemnly and hugged her tight. She hugged him back, and then pulled him in for a passionate kiss. Across the lobby, students were talking heatedly on their phones, trying to form coherent sentences from their shock.

Eli was holding Clare on the couch, who was too tired, shaken, and upset to even stand up. She sat on his lap, face buried in his neck, while he rubbed her back and whispered sweet nothings in her ear. She just shook her head of curls and cried into his shoulder some more. Eli murmured to her, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair, but Clare only merely stopped sobbing, crying silently his Eli's chest. He pulled her navy sweater around her shoulders and waited for Bullfrog to come and drive them to the hospital.

Sadie was leaning against Dave's side, who had realized his mistake with going after Alli and went back to Sadie. After a while, he gained Sadie's trust again and they had agreed to go to prom together, which was ruined now. He had his arm around her, and she slumped tiredly against his skinny frame.

Holly J, Anya, and Fiona had already left in the limo, rushing to the hospital, along with many other students.

Drew sobbed hysterically in Katie Matlin's arms in the ambulance. They were almost to the hospital, and both he and Katie were holding Adam's hands, which were connected to various needles and IV's. His beloved brother might die because of him. Katie just tried to hold back tears, having to tilt her head back to keep the tears in. She gulped and tried to be comforting, to no avail.

Drew and Katie had been running from a dark figure, who ran after them with a gun. Vince was trying to shoot Drew, and Katie dragged him into the middle room where Adam was eventually shot, trying to lock the door. Vince pushed his way in and shoved Katie to the side, saying her little boyfriend needed to be taught a lesson.

Just before Vince fired the gun, Adam jumped out of the corner of the room. He had hid in here earlier after hearing the screaming. He flung himself in front of Drew, and was shot through the chest. Adam screamed in pain, and Vince fled the hotel.

Drew cried. "Please be okay," he chanted over and over again.


End file.
